Symantec Puts Endpoint Security on Managed Services Menu

Symantec adds a new batch of managed security services for protecting enterprise endpoints. According to Symantec, the goal of Symantec Managed Endpoint Protection Services is to help companies dealing with staff shortages to better meet their security needs.

Symantec unveiled a new set of managed services June 23 as part of a push
around enterprise security.
Symantec
Managed Endpoint Protection Services features around-the-clock performance
monitoring for Symantec's enterprise security software-SEP (Symantec Endpoint
Protection), SNAC (Symantec Network Access Control) and SAV (Symantec AntiVirus).
In addition to remote monitoring, management and deployment services have
been added as well.

According to Symantec officials, the goal is to provide relief
to IT departments challenged by a combination of malware threats and
staffing issues.

"It's clear to us that a lot of IT departments and security departments
are understaffed as they go through this global downturn and ... don't have the
expertise or resources to handle all the issues in-house," said Grant
Geyer, vice president of managed services at Symantec. "When they do, they
want to make sure they're focused on more strategic activities."
The endpoint monitoring draws on Symantec's Global Intelligence Network for
threat information, and uses other security event details from network
protection systems to investigate or validate incidents. This helps IT security
response staff prioritize events that require immediate action, Symantec
officials said.

On the management side, the service transfers management of the technology
to Symantec staff who handle operational and life-cycle management for an
organization's endpoints.

The service is now available globally. Pricing depends on the number of
protected nodes and management consoles.
"We believe [this] will help complete the picture for a lot of
organizations that today are only doing network security monitoring or
operating system and application monitoring by giving them a full picture of
all the malware and spyware that is trying to attack them at the endpoints,"
Geyer said.